Amy G. Dalia

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★★★★★

This book satisfies on every level. I love YA, romance, and LGBTQ+ literature. This books succeeds and delights on every level. The teenagers are believable. The romances are sweet. And there is positive representation of characters across the gender and sexual orientation spectrums. If Sarah Dessen wrote a transgender romance, it might read something like this. The story is adapted from the classic play As You Like It. It is set in the modern day at a high school and features a cast of LGBTQ+ characters and allies. The main storyline focuses on a transgender teenager named Gabe and his romantic feelings for another boy both before and after transitioning. It might have been difficult to describe Gabe’s journey and avoid getting snagged on pronouns. But but Dalia manages it with ease, keeping the narrative and dialogue flowing without tripping the reader up. The dialogue, pacing, and compression of time are masterfully handled. There are joyful and sad moments mixed together. The book accurately portrays what it feels like to fall in love, especially when you are young. I love the characters in this book. Gabe is a lovable, relatable protagonist. His joys, his setbacks, his euphoria, and his dysphoria are all realistic parts of the transgender journey. Celia is the loving ally every transgender teen deserves who speaks the loving words every LGBTQ+ child and teenager longs to hear. Reading the scenes between her and Gabe were validating and healing for me. Celia is the older sister I wish I’d had. She will probably become one of my imaginary allies that I consult from time to time. Touchstone steals nearly every scene he’s in and is one of my favorite LGBTQ+ characters ever. He’s up there with Infinite Darlene from Boy Meets Boy. Dalia obviously had fun adapting this character from the original Shakespeare play. Recasting the jester in the role of a gay teen boy was a brilliant move. If you’re like me, he will probably stay in your head for a long time after finishing the book. Orlando is Gabe’s love interest. Their romance is a slow burn but totally worth it. His journey exploring his sexual orientation is treated as being just as important as Gabe’s journey. Jacques reminds me of my favorite high school English teacher, the one who inspired and challenged his students. I would almost endure the pains of being a teenager again in order to take his class. Dalia has managed to write a lighthearted book with real emotion. This is a book that would be right at home on the shelf next to the YA novels of David Levithan and the queer romances of Casey McQuiston. My advice: This book is a feast. Savor it. Read it slowly. Enjoy it. Don’t devour it all at once. Make it last. Stop at the happy parts and at the emotional parts. Take it all in. This book is emotionally satisfying in so many ways. The author handles an emotionally complex story as gently as possible with compassion for every character. The kissing and physical intimacy are handled well and in a responsible way. I wish I’d had a healthy sexuality like this modeled to me as a teenager I found the novel to be cathartic. It is a YA title but I feel that adults will get a lot out of it as well. It took me back to high school days. It was healing to witness the characters’ journeys. Here is the love and acceptance I deserved as a queer youth but did not receive. Here is what a healthy partner might have looked and felt like. Here is the person x could have been if he’d let the jester mask fall just a little. It is a book filled with light and hope that doesn’t ignore the anxieties of being LGBTQ+ but doesn’t wallow in them either. This isn’t a story about LGBTQ+ suffering but about LGBTQ+ dignity, LGBTQ+ joy, LGBTQ+ love, and LGBTQ+ truth. This is exactly the type of book I want to write. This is the type of story I want to tell. These are the sort of characters I want to see represented in literature of all types and genres. This is the book I want to buy and donate to Pride Center libraries. It is the book I want to gift to all my friends. I feel this is a book I will revisit often. For comfort. For humor. For romance. For inspiration. I believe many of the characters will be dear friends to me, living in my mind and sharing conversations. That only happens with the best books. I hope to read many more novels and stories by this talented author in the future. I was given an advance copy of the book in exchange for a genuine review.

@PhoenixKY